Let's talk radical about our leaders

By Azad Miah, Oldham, UK
13 November 2003, 18:00 PM
The main opposition party, Awami League, is making lots of headlines with calls for the BNP-led alliance government to resign, only after two years in office. Especially the recent comment by the AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil sounds more like an ultimatum by an invading army, rather than the utterance of a democratic politician.

Why should the alliance government resign? Is it because of the pathetic state of our economy or the dangerous level of corruption prevailing in the country? If these are reasons for which the AL wants the government to resign, then its leaders can tell us exactly when any of these issues were better in recent years?

We have been dogged by these problems since the birth of our nation. What is so new about this and why suddenly there is such an urgency to undemocratically kick the regime out of power?

Sheikh Hasina keeps boasting that she is calling for government's resignation in the interests of our country. But how can we be sure that Sheikh Hasina is not doing it for grabbing power? We smell a rat in the tactics and logic used by Sheikh Hasina. After two years in opposition following a disgraceful defeat, Sheikh Hasina comes out with the same old ideas and policies that are designed to serve her party, not the country.

For the last two years, the AL probably spent just two months attending the parliament. As if that wasn't enough, they now want to take the whole nation into a war path to confront with the BNP alliance. But this isn't the only thing that worries me. Next time Khaleda Zia goes in opposition, she will not be attending parliament just as Sheikh Hasina is doing now.

And, if the AL employs violence to bring down the BNP-alliance, the same will be repeated by the BNP when they go in opposition. While these acts of self-destruction go on, our poor country is paying the price. I have a very simple question: Why should we let Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia use our resources to perpetuate their family-politics?

I beg to the people of Bangladesh, please don't give your life in the fighting for these leaders. Instead of coming out on the streets vandalising and fighting on their behalf, spend time with your family, your children and think hard about our country's future. Both Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia are birds of same feather. In their entire lives, they lived on our tax money. They're also incompetent, short-sighted, uncaring and utterly useless. Instead of supporting them, lets get rid of them.